Her father, stifling a sigh, turned slowly, pushed a chair to the fire and settled into it, his rubber-encased knees wide apart, so that the warmth of the blaze could reach most of his body.

Jack found a seat beside him, his mind on Ruth and her evident suffering, his ears alert for any fresh word from his Chief.
"I forgot to tell you, Breen," MacFarlane said at last, "that I came up the track just now as far as the round-house with the General Manager of the Road.

He has sent one of his engineers to look after that Irishman's job before he can pull it to pieces to hide his rotten work--that is, what is left of it.

Of course it means a lawsuit or a fight in the Village Council.

That takes time and money, and generally costs more than you get.